The Islamic State’s Barbarity Defies Our Understanding of Genocide

A new paper published through the University of St. Andrews, Dehumanisation in Religious and Sectarian Violence: the Case of Islamic State, explores the uniquely horrific practices of the Islamic State. The author, Dr. Gilbert Ramsay, explores how the Islamic State does not dehumanize their victims in traditional ways. In fact, the Islamic State will often attribute a great deal of humanity to those massacred. This can be seen most explicitly in the videos IS publishes. In one instance, Dr. Ramsay notes IS employs editing in their execution videos that offer: “a window into the thoughts of the penitent victim prior to death”. Through their publications, IS seeks to create an intimate bond between the viewer and the victim. The religious content of the Islamic State ideology is so potent, the dehumanization of massacred individuals is sometimes unnecessary. According to IS, Infidels and Shiites must be killed or submit to their ideology. As evidenced by the callous nature of their videos, this is done unapologetically.

To be sure, Ramsay also notes the Islamic State will, from time to time, use dehumanizing methods. However, compared to other genocidal organizations, IS does not employ dehumanization nearly as frequently. Notably, the Nazis found found ways to dehumanize and shield themselves from profoundly depraved actions. The implications of the Islamic State’s ideological nature presents a terrifying possibility: we are dealing with an entity that does not find genocidal activities to be morally unconscionable.

The Islamic State represents a truly unique and horrible evil. Although they are materially weak, the ideological power of IS is potent. It has been often said that you can kill a man but you can not kill an idea. While I agree with the sentiment of this maxim, the West must begin to attack and kill the ideology upon which the Islamic State is premised. If this new study is any indication, combatting the Islamic State’s cancerous belief system will be incredibly difficult.

All religion-based ideologies are barbaric! Note the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem witch hunt, and on and on! When the crossbow was developed into an effective weapon, the Vatican forbade its use by Christians on other Christians, however using it on Pagans (non-Christians) was encouraged! Any religion that tells its members that they are somehow superior to non-believers consciously (or otherwise) encourages cruelty! I am not against religion unless it pushes the us-against-them mentality that starts many wars. The-Devil-made-me-do-it and Better-the-Devil-you-know are attitudes that will continue to divide people. Divide and Conquer is a very old and effective military and political strategy! The Rich LOVE it because it helps keep them rich and powerful! GLAHP!

ISIS must be defeated, that is what the US and most of the world agrees upon. To bring up past conflicts which have no bearing upon the year 2017 is sidestepping the issue. The pre-enlightenment mindset which directed the Crusades is gone now. And I’ve never heard about the Trump “religious entitlement beliefs”, what the heck is that? He is an Episcopalian but at most a lukewarm Christian. Please put aside any dissension from the Real Issue– defeating ISIS, which will be very difficult as the original article states.

Vivisky – Spot on Bro. It boils down to Good v Evil. Radical Islam is evil because it seeks to conquer at any cost. Islam does not mean “Peace”. It means “Submit”. Islamic scripture allows and in fact directs it’s adherents to kill those that don’t “submit”. Islamic scripture allows and in fact directs it’s adherents to lie, kill, terrorize and convert with the sword to achieve the submission of non believers. Radical Islam is an ends justifies the means philosophy.

No where in the Gospels of Christ does He direct killing, terror, dishonesty, or conversion by the sword. Christianity is based on conversion of the heart through free will. With out free will, you can not “be born again”.

One more though – The last time we fought an opponent that made a regular practice of publicly beheading prisoners, we had to fire bomb to the ground every major city in their country and Nuke them; not once, but twice before we could get to peace.

We will not have peace with Radical Islam until we crush their ability to wage war or until we are defeated, beheaded, and our women sold into slavery.

Cam
You obviously have not read the Old Testament of the Bible if you think that Christians were never “directed” to kill. Start readin, Bro.
Now the New Testament, on the other hand, Jesus teaches believers to “Love one another” as He (Jesus) has loved them. In fact, it is the “Greatest Commandment” to Love all, including your enemies.
Gee whiz,Cam. What do we do now?

Oh. A fatal blow landed to the solar plexus by Vivisky. Give them a name. Jews, Christians, Saints, followers of God. Prior to Christ showing up as a baby in a manger, he existed with God from the beginning of time and followers were “saved” so to speak, by their faith in the coming Messiah (Christ) and in God. (again, Christ) Call the whatever you want. God had HIS followers KILL others that got in their way.
Now the New Testament changed all that to a giant Love fest but I guess, according to you, we should ignore that “greatest commandment” and start arbitrarily wackin Muslims because they are “evil” and we are “good”. I guess it is back to the GWB doctrine of simplicity when justifying our killing of thousands of innocents. Oh well. Casualties of war I guess.
Bless your heart there, Vivisky.

CamFebruary 14, 2017, 6:02 pm

Fist of all, I sighted the Gospels of Christ. Our Lord Jesus did not expect us to be sheep in the face of evil. Even Jesus got angry and violently drove the money changers out of the temple. According to Jesus, one of the greatest examples of faith was exhibited by the Centurion, a man under military authority and arms.

Lastly, in all of the accounts of Jesus’s arrest by the temple paramilitaries, Peter was armed with the top assault weapon of his time; a short sword. He was trained and proficient with it, as evidenced by his having attacked and defeated Malcus – one of temple professional soldiers.

If there is a greater force in the Universe it is benign and it is evil men that are using words to bend others to do their evil will.
The vast majority of human beings want nothing more than to be safe, warm, fed, healthy, housed and happy.

while the crusades the salem witch trials and all the other bad stuff DID happen THAT WAS MORE THEN 200 YEARS AGO isis id doing WORSE RIGHT RIGHT NOW
yo BURN TEENAGE GIRLS TO DEATH BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO HAVE SEX WITH THESE SLIME SHOULD be a crime against humanity
to BURN A 11 YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRL TO DEATH because she refused to give up being a christian is well beyond wrong
ISIS SHOULD BE HUNTED DOWN NO MATTER WHERE THEY HIDE AND WIPED OUT TO THE LAST MAN WOMEN AND CHILD

Thank you Cam, Phil and Kevin. Wish everyone would quit the dissension “left against right” and get on board with the Number One priority for the entire world which is eliminating ISIS, as well as preventing Iran, N.Korea and other evil empires from sending ALL earthlings back to the Dark Ages. If that happens, then it’s every man for himself and a re-run of the Crusades will emerge. The left has no idea how harmful their policies actually are!

well, with people like you, Vivisky, there shouldn’t be any problems with “dissension” between “left against right”. You really should read what it is you write prior to posting. Just look at your last sentence. That kind of statement will have the “left” right in step with your beliefs. Jeeze.

That is why there will always BE dissension. You fail to see that the “left” is your other arm. There has to be dissension and differing opinions. It is a checks and balance system, so to speak. Kind of like the 3 branches of Gov”t., so that our elected officals just can’t have their way with our democracy. (unless we let them) If we all agreed with one another, we would all still speak with British accents, drink tea and be bowing to King Henry the xxI right before he had your head cut off. (we all use to have a head fetish)
Bottom line is the left and right have to work together and compromise with each other in order to come to an agreed upon solutions to many disagreements we have. I happen to be a moderate when it comes to politics but I do cherish my gun rights which puts some of my other beliefs at odds with my 2nd amendment brethren.
And ya may want to take a real close look at China when it come to your “number one Priority for the entire world”.
Of course it all depends on where you are in our world as to what YOUR number one priority is.

In the entire history of human behavior, greed has always been a major problem, especially for the poor. ‘Demonize wealthy people’! Oh no, shall I cry a crocodile tear for them! How many people live in the dirt so there can be millionaires and billionaires, whose numbers continue to increase. Rape the Earth, sure as long as it’s profitable for the so-called elites! Don’t want to hear or believe, then put your head back in the sand, no doubt you’re used to the view! So the old atrocities don’t matter anymore, not in your neighborhood. The old saying that comes to mind is “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it”. Did you know that when the ‘christians’ were saving the heathens and fattening their wallets (treasure chests) at the same time, basically all forms of persuasion were used including beheaded, chopping off limbs, giving disease-ridden blankets to pagans with no developed immunity to the many biological agents like cholera (the term is genocide)! Today, the civilized world pretends to be superior, we only do NICE tortures like water-boarding (again and again) or long stays in small locked rooms with lousy views, and my personal favorite: wage slavery, that terminal disease that gives most of us no real hope for a decent future! Well, excuse me for giving a shit, oh look, a sand box, think I’ll take a look-see! Three branches of government, all run/controlled by the same rich people, well that’s fair, NOT! This country is a Republic not a democracy, that form of government doesn’t really exist! GLAHP!

…to get back on topic, let’s all re-read the last sentence, of the Original Post, which most definitely was NOT written by the Left hand: “the West must begin to attack and kill the ideology upon which the Islamic State is premised. If this new study is any indication, combatting the Islamic State’s cancerous belief system will be incredibly difficult.”
The choice is simple–“kill the ideology” of ISIS, which will be very difficult, OR, let’s everyone just sit here “discussing” things in polite (or not so polite…) “dissension”.
The time for “discussing” the virtues of rape, forced conversion, burning people alive in a cage, beheadings, all professionally filmed and edited to enhance the terroristic message, IS OVER.
No more discussion, there can be no earthly reason to not obliterate ISIS. And to neck with letting people come for a (not) friendly visit to the U.S. if they have no legal business being here they can just stay out. We don’t need any foreign terrorists coming here–there are plenty of home-grown bad people taking up too many LEO man-hours, just look at Chicago.

Roger, I hear you and agree with your feeling frustrated, but, I do not know exactly what you are suggesting as one of (or “the”) solution (s). Certainly there have been horrendous crime committed in the name of Christianity…..as well as every other religion or group. The Crusades which is popularly given as “evidence” that Christians are bonkers/nuts/ insane (etc) happened 1,000 years ago. Christians in year 2017 do NOT chop off limbs or heads—it is Egypt, Saudia Arabia.et al which have that as part of their “normal” legal system (!!!!). And everyone has seen the dozens of Christians being led by Muslim captors to be beheaded. My point is, with a clear & present danger within the Muslim extreme groups (called ISIS, Daesh, Al Quaeda, etc) we need to stop lobbing mere pot-shots against Christians or even the DNC. We can survive & thrive as a country- -if we can protect our borders, but we cannot make every citizen or refugee into a wealthy person. And the rest we each seek every night when our heads hit the pillow is previously guarded by our brave military–which currently is majorly underfunded and has outdated planes, ships & equipment, not to mention needs many more volunteers. Don’t just throw your hands up in despair and run to the woods–this country is worth protecting! No, we cannot take everyone in who wants to come here, and no, we are not going to spend trillions protecting other countries either. We are going to be the best country in Earth and let other countries learn by watching us be The Best! And if they date try to take us down, we will crush them.

Tim, I don’t like the indented paragraph thing on this website so I am here putting my reply to your “rant” from. “Tim FEBRUARY 13, 2017, 8:39 AM
Oh. A fatal blow landed to the solar plexus….” in which “Tim” claims that I “Vivisky” am in favor of “arbitrarily wackin Muslims because they are “evil””.
If you were a more careful reader, “Tim”, you would remember my earlier post, where I said in “Vivisky FEBRUARY 9, 2017, 10:51 PM, ISIS must be defeated, that is what the US and most of the world agrees upon. ”
I am not in favor of “wackin Muslims” as you describe it. The overwhelming majority of the world is however in favor of obliterating ISIS. I hope you will join us. Have a great Valentine’s Day!

Milagro, maybe if you read the article then you would have some idea of why your comment is off-the-wall, please go back to smoking your weed and watching internet porn! Vivisky, do you realize that the military budget [including the VA, Dept. of Energy (they control the nukes), and the “Intelligence Community”] for 2016 was an ‘estimated’ $1.2 trillion! That’s unfunded? The main problem with the military is that it’s run by civilians or more accurately by politicians, who always think they are more expert than ‘dumb-ass soldiers’ on everything! The difference between the military spending we need and what ‘we’ spend is whether we want National security or international security for the vested financial interests of the international filthy RICH! The number one problem (for humans) in this world is over population which helps cause most of the other problems including (my #2) climate change. The Earth and by extension the Universe doesn’t give a SHIT about us arrogant, childish humanoids; we aren’t even a drop in the cosmic bucket and probably never will be because we refused to GROW UP! That does it, I’m throwing this soap box into the bonfire, it keeps getting me in trouble! GLAHP! (Good Luck and Happy Prepping!)

Roger, I completely agree that one of the biggest problems facing Earth is the ever- growing human population, however during 1900’s the population grew unsustainably, but not in the developed nations, in the 3rd world.

Disease and malnutrition are 3rd world’s system of population control; when “benevolent” organizations like WHO et al interfere with this extant natural birth control, populations explode and present even more pressing humanitarian crises.

Add to this the paternalistic, Muslim inspired need for those nation’s men to “prove” their worth by having multiple wives and DOZENS of children, many of whom die of starvation or lack of clean water. So sad. Or is it–in a pre-industrial world, the “blessing” of children was so easily taken away, with few living to reproduce…interfere with this natural population control under the guise of “humanitarian aid” and we inevitably multiply the agony. Think about your own children. What would you want, have two or maybe three, or have 8 but be assured 5 or 6 will starve to death? Or have 8 and all survive, but all live in destitution, and your grandchildren all get immunized and have 8th grade education, but have no choice but to leap to ISIS where there is some food. Hmmmm.

We would all agree on the need to have STABLE, healthy, educated populations, world wide. This means the 18th-19th century (Yes we have to pinpoint some such era as a baseline, and much arguing will ensue over what the baseline should be) natural populations (including PURE natives) need to be maintained–some are already extinct and can never be resurrected (and 20% of some native blood is not going to be able to save it), some currently are not even approaching replacement levels, while others are blatantly, egregiously overpopulating! Here it is, get your liberal talking pointers ready, I’ve made it easy for you: It is mostly the Caucasians, and Japanese, which are underpopulating. (The very obscure native populations, are doomed to extinction, unless someone else has more information, please advise!).

To this end, all Caucasians need to reproduce more, and all Asians, Middle Easterns and Blacks need to reproduce less. If you think I am being racist, well just go ahead and Google it.

In less than one generation the majority race will be Black or Asian, Muslim or Hindu/Buddhist, while red hair, blue/green eyes, Christian, blonde hair, or Hebrews (especially Eastern European Jews) will be extremely rare.

What the world needs now is love, and successful reproduction amongst Caucasians and especially blonde/red hair, blue/green eyes, and more Eastern European Hebrews. If you are a young person with these traits, you owe it to the future generations on Earth to preserve your gift of genetics–recognize that you have some recessive genes which will disappear if you mate with dark eyes/dark hair, and accept that you have a sacred responsibility to keep those lines going forward.

If you mate with Asian, Black, or dark hair, all of which are dominant over your genes, you cancel your genetic impact FOREVER.

Intelligence is important, but what kind of world would it be if there were no more redheads, blondes (natural), Blue, green or grey eyes? There is a lot of diversity in Nature. Would a world full of ONLY Asian, Blacks and Middle Easterns be beautiful? Maybe they would have some token artificial reds, blondes and blue eyes. Just hope we can reverse the trend towards extinction.

Yes, I already am expecting to being labeled a “racist” for these rational thoughts. Thank you in advance. Every day I see the world changing, as it has for millions of years, and as everyone always has done (mostly that has been men….) I will do my best to ensure the survival of my family. That is what we all should do–but not more than our fair share and certainly not less than that!

Wow! That’s one sore nerve ending! No, I won’t label you a ‘racist’, that word is way overused and abused. Personally, I see nothing wrong in seeing your physical traits (no matter what they are) as being positive, diversity has its advantages as well as disadvantages. Like it or not, we humanoids are currently the dominant species on this planet (at least we think we are, self-promotion for sure). By the way, Caucasians are persons originating from the Caucas Mountains in the area around the countries of Georgia and Russia, when and why that racial name started being assigned to light-skinned Eastern Europeans I don’t know! Did you forget about the Hispanic ‘races’, they’re doing a pretty good job of over-populating as well! IMHO, the world only ‘needs’ about a 100 million people which is still a hell of a large amount of any animal. You should look up some info on William Shockley Jr., a physicist who helped invent the electrical transistor who was ridiculed for basically stating that stupid people tended to have more children; based on statistics! My final two-cents on the subject is that the only ‘humane’ way to achieve this target population is by implementing a One-Healthy-Woman-One-Healthy-Child policy world wide, and thus slowly reduce the world population down to a healthy (for this world) number. Ten Thousand communities with maximum populations of ten thousand people each would be an ideal way to continue into the future! In reality, war, famine and other natural (or otherwise) disasters will sooner or later bring the humanoid population way down to hopefully a healthy level! GLAHP!

Can someone please tell me, who exactly would be in charge of deciding who would qualify to reproduce under Roger’s “One-Healthy-Woman-One-Healthy-Child policy” –?

Sounds an awful lot like the eugenics movement in early 1900’s, continuing with the Nazi regime, and then across the Pacific with China’s one child policy.

The problems are obvious- -and difficult to eradicate in any sort of equitable manner: what type of woman (exactly) would qualify to be Roger’s “Healthy Woman” and what if she doesn’t happen to want to become pregnant, or cannot, does her “duty” fall to some woman farther down the queue?

Hmmmm I can already hear the grumbling amongst husbands (or I guess Roger wants to do away with that archaic institution too) once they discover that their wife is not one of Roger’s coveted few “Healthy Woman”.

And what if the Prime Woman cannot or will not conceive, oh dear, or what if she does conceive and despite all manner of tests delivers a child with defects (horrors) or who 30 years later, who becomes a Jeffrey Dahmer?

Do you see, there is No Guarantee of QUALITY, just by reducing mere numbers.

It’s equivalent to some of those poor winners of Biggest Loser, or Eligible Bachelor shows, where they lose 200 pounds, or marry the sexiest sluttiest chick–only to regain the weight or get divorced a few years later.

Only, with Roger’s extreme “100 million maximum humans” in place you have eliminated generations of billions of genetic material, leaving billions of elderly people without children (or younger paid companions) to help usher them into their sunsets….there is simply no comfortable transition from a stable “2 parents, 2 or 3 kids” world into a “2 parents, let’s have a committee decide if you can MAYBE have 1 kid” world.

Some people would outright murder others, just to gain reproductive rights. Did I just say that? Yes I do think that would happen–especially among those communities which have men proving their worth with multiple wives and dozens of kids (i.e., Muslim).

Can anyone do the math on how many generations it would take, to achieve Roger’s utopia, if it were ever possible to limit ALL human births to ONLY those quality “Healthy” women, and only one offspring?

And can someone PLEASE tell me WHY is Roger’s focus on solely inspecting for healthy women, and NOT on healthy men? (CRICKETS) I would think that 50% of the DNA should come from exceptional fathers as well as mother.

Maybe we should only let tall dark (or perhaps the minority blonde/red) handsome men reproduce, and preferably only after auditioning them in the bedroom to ensure adequacy there as in every other category.

I mean what’s the use of mediocrity, anywhere? If we are only going to have 10,000 people per community they better all be he tall, slim, smooth skinned, straight white teeth, high I.Q. and good in the bedroom. ‘Cause if there’s no kids, no wars, and little job demands to interfere, the bedroom will certainly be a hotbed of activities.

Actually, maybe we should just get rid of intercourse altogether, and sterilize all children at age 10, preserving samples of eggs and sperm from only the best & brightest children. Later on after these best & brightest have “proven” their genetic superiority, we can permit their stored gametes to be joined in Petri dishes, and implanted into paid surrogates.

Yes this must be the way to save the World!

They say it takes a village to raise a child–In the future it may be that ONLY a village will be allowed to raise a child.